


Love-in-a-mist

by KhanaSukre



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Caring, Flowers, Fluff, Gardens & Gardening, Gen, My First Fanfic, be kind plz, romantic relationship or not is up to you, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 19:46:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19979512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KhanaSukre/pseuds/KhanaSukre
Summary: How to care about small and bigger things...





	Love-in-a-mist

Snufkins were not settling creatures. They were meant to travel the world, never staying too long in one place. They fancied nature. Its beauty and its life. Of course it varied from one snufkin to another. But their restless behavior had many faces.

Some would travel alone.

Some would settle in a village only to leave it the next season.

Some would have a home to live in, but they'd be caught looking out a window, sighing at the beauty outside.

Others would hike, some would sail, rarely would some fly. But the records were scarce.

Although, there was this one specific snufkin (I'm certain you know which one). He was quite known to be a wanderer or a tramp. Depending on the tone the storyteller fancied.

Always restless, walking joyfully all winter in the forests. A song on the lips.

Coming back to one of his homes for the rest of the year. You see, this snufkin was at home everywhere and everywhere was his home.

But nowhere else, could he find peace and adventure, calm and joy, a family and yet be by himself... than in the lovely valley of the Moomins.

━━━━━━━━━━

One day, Moominmamma was slightly startled by a loud knock on the front door of her house. She wiped her hands and headed to the door. Surely, the person she would greet was quite in a hurry or didn't know she had a good hearing and so there was no need to knock loudly.

She opened the door of the blue and red house.

“Hello? What can I do for you on such a lovely day?”

“Sorry if I startled you, Moominmamma…”

Answered Snufkin, his booted foot stilled in the air. Surely, he was about to kick it on the door once more before being greeted unexpectedly.

“I didn't want to dirty the door.”

He explained, holding some spectacularly muddy paws up to illustrate.

Moominmamma nodded sagely, in understanding.

“Then, what can I do for you? Are you looking for Moomin perhaps?”

He lifted his head a little higher to look directly into her kind eyes.

“I am, indeed. I was hoping that if he was inside, I could get him? I didn't take the mud into account, though. Would it be too much of a trouble for you to call him downstairs?”

“Not at all, dear.” Moominmamma smiled brightly. “I assume you found something to show him?” She added, a knowing, gentle smile on her face.

She then turned inside her home to call her son down, after the snufkin's hum of confirmation.

━━━━━━━━━━

“Remember the black seeds I planted by the end of Spring?” asked Snufkin, a spark of joy in his eyes, to Moomintroll. The young troll had been called by his mother earlier and had happily joined his solitary friend outside.

The weather was still slightly damp after a rainy few days, but in a pleasant way. The grass tickled under Moomin's feet with clinging raindrops while some crashed on his friend’s boots, joining the mess of his soles.

The feeling distracted him from the question addressed. He replied:

“I'm afraid I don't, Snufkin.” offering a lopsided, apologetic smile.

The quiet snufkin smiled brighter, letting a few teeth show behind his lips (most of his smiles drew a thin line of his mouth). He pressed:

“Don't you really? We found them, Little My, you and I. She said they were so black and dark, they would grow into a bush a devil would call home.”

They both chuckled at the recounted comment of the tiny mymble.

It lit a spark of memory in the white troll's mind. And soon he followed Snufkin to the back of Moominhouse. 

━━━━━━━━━━

“Here.” he said. And lowered himself on his knees, directly on the freshly watered ground and pointed.

They were neighboring some of Moominmamma's flower beds. But the one Snufkin was kneeling near from, was a shy, little spot of soil. Not quite fully rid of bits of grass like the other shell decorated flower beds.

Some delicate-looking stems had grown. They looked spikey, almost like pine needles. But softly brushing some with a thumb, revealed to Moomin that they were actually really soft.

“Did those grow from the black seeds?” he asked. 

But his friend merely nodded, gazing intently at the center of the flower bed, eyes full of admiration.

Moomin came to the realization:

“Wait… Did _you_ plant those?”

Snufkin shot him a quick shy glance and his mouth stretched into a lopsided smile.

“Well, I tried. It was the first time I planted seeds in fact. I asked Moominmamma if I could borrow a spot of your garden.”

Moomin beamed.

“That’s amazing! I didn’t know you had a green thumb!”

The snufkin closed his eyes for a second.

“I didn’t know either. It seems we still have a lot to learn… But look.”

He pointed to the spot he was glancing at earlier. Moomintroll strained his eyes to determine what was supposed to catch his attention.

Realizing that his friend couldn’t see from his side, Snufkin shifted forward and gently brushed apart some stems blocking the view.

They revealed a single flower, right in the middle of the small patch.

It was delicate-looking, only a few petals surrounding a thin pistil. They were white, but their brims were starting to turn a pale icy blue. The sepals around the flower looked sharp and thin, making it resemble a snowflake.

Moomin pressed both paws to the front of his face.

“It is the most precious thing I have ever seen.” he murmured.

Snufkin’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

“It is rather pretty. I hope others will bloom too.”

“What is the name of these flowers?”

Moomin’s friend actually chuckled at this.

“I wasn’t too sure at first. But now I’m pretty certain they’re love-in-a-mists. They are also known as devil-in-a-bush, funnily enough.”

━━━━━━━━━━

They sat for a few minutes, looking at the flower dancing in the gentle breeze. Then Moomintroll finally got the courage to ask what was on his mind.

“Snufkin?”

“Mhm?” he answered, groggily. For he had started to nod off.

“You never grew flowers before.”

He opened his eyes more in reflexion.

“You’re right. I never did.”

“Why?”

Seconds passed. Moomin thought he might have asked something insensitive. But Snufkin answered.

“You know, Moomin. Settling nowhere is in my nature. I dislike being rooted in one place. A settlement is like a chain and I… I _thought_ I had to avoid it at all cost. No matter what I was missing in the process.”

A pause again. Moomin started to realize how important this confession actually was to his dear friend. The other continued.

“But recently, I have been torn between what my soul requires and what it knows I’m missing out on.”

The white troll started to get confused.

“So you’re… Missing flowers in the winter? But that’s just how it is, Snufkin. It’s like… Nature’s nature!”

“I know.” he answered, a small chuckle wavering his sentence.

“What I mean is… I thought I couldn’t care. Or take care. I was convinced of it, and others thought so too. It’s basically in my name... But coming here every year, by my own volition? It’s making me care. And I can feel it’s not right. This is also why I have to travel in the winter, as I told you before. It’s… just a need of mine…”

He put a paw to his chin, looking for words. Moomin waited patiently.

“Recently though, taking care has become a need as well. Because caring induces protecting. But I never did before. All I do is walk alone in the woods. And even though I do enjoy that. I also want to know how to take care.”

“I was… actually scared.” he continued, rubbing an arm. “For the flowers I mean. For them to grow, Nature itself can suffice. But the results can be random. And that’s part of Nature’s beauty, right? But when you care, you have to put a little effort into it. When you plant seeds you want to see grow, you have to care for them, take the time to pick the perfect spot, water them exactly as regularly as they need, provide shade at the good time of day. You have to be there.”

He chuckled, a bit embarrassed.

“I didn't think I had it in me to care for them for so long. I can't believe this one ended up so pretty... It makes me think that maybe, just maybe, I can care for bigger things? And still not be rooted forever?”

Snufkin finished, his sentences sounding more and more like questions. As if doubting a little after vocalizing so many thoughts. He turned to his friend, palms up on his knees, so many questions and maybe a hint of uncertainty in his brown eyes.

Moomin showed no emotion for a few seconds. Then stood up, leaning a bit forward to offer a paw to Snufkin, who took it before being lifted into a standing position.

Looking into his blue eyes, the snufkin could now read infinite kindness from his friend. The young troll took a deep breath, taking the other's paws into his and said:

“Thank you for sharing all this with me. And I'm glad you found out something about yourself thanks to the flowers you planted. Also I'm very sorry that you felt that you couldn't care without sacrificing who you are. But really, Snufkin, I always knew you were someone caring.”

Snufkin couldn't tear his eyes off from his friend's face. Perhaps he was looking for any twinkle of mischief and lie in his eyes, because such gentleness couldn't be genuine. He found none of these dreadful things. Moomin continued.

“You do care, I believe, in your own way. And this never had and never will impede your freedom. But if you do wish to show your care in new ways then I'm happy for you. And never will anyone in Moominvalley stop you from leaving in winter or for your journeys by yourself.”

Snufkin stared at this friend, and then was jolted by a breath of laughter. Then another. And then another. His shy and almost silent chuckles quickly turned into sincere laughter. Not especially loud, but transpiring the purest form of joy vocal cords could create. It sounded like falling snow and flying butterflies at the same time.

After a while, Snufkin started to recompose himself, having laid a paw on Moomin's shoulder for balance. He glanced up at his confused friend. The young troll could recognize a certainly rare moisture in the corners of the other's eyes. Although, was it from laughing so hard or from being emotional, well. That is up to you.

Snufkin smiled brightly at him and, very silently, murmured:

“Thank you, Moomintroll.”

━━━━━━━━━━

Snufkins were not settling creatures. They were meant to travel the world, never staying too long in one place. They fancied nature. Its beauty and its life. Of course it varied from one snufkin to another. But their restless behavior had many faces.

Some would go see the world.

Some would go from place to place, never setting a tent and merely sleeping in the trees.

And sometimes. Some others would come back every time, to watch flowers grow.

Snufkins could indeed be caring creatures, although in their own way.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> Thank you for reading, I hope you had a good time. Please, do share your thoughts, but keep in mind that, not only is this my first Moomins fanfic, it's also my first EVER finished fanfic (and English's not my first language).
> 
> Now, about the story, I was inspired by some flowers I managed to grew a few days ago, they were love-in-a-mists (or nigellas). I shared a picture on my tumblr (https://considermeharmless.tumblr.com/) if you wonder what they look like.
> 
> I'm really enjoying the Moomins Renaissance so far, I hope it stays for a while! At least, know that if you liked what you read, I have another project in mind :) Also, I'm not a shipper myself but you can picture the two lads as a couple if you wish, I won't stop you.
> 
> Anyway, have a lovely day/night!  
> Khana.


End file.
